Pasco school budget contains raises, relies on slight tax increase

LAND O'LAKES — Pasco County property owners will see a tiny tax rate increase with the adoption of the school district's 2013-14 budget.

No one spoke at the School Board's public hearing Tuesday on the $1.079 billion spending plan, which bumps up the tax rate by 1.6 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

The owner of a $125,000 home with a homestead exemption will pay $1.60 more than a year ago under the budget, which the board approved unanimously.

Chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong said there was "a lot of good" in the budget. She noted specifically the board's ability to offer raises to all employees for the first time in six years.

The board set aside $3.5 million to supplement about $11.9 million from the state to provide pay hikes.

Officials dealt with a projected shortfall through a combination of department reorganizations, temporary school closures and job cuts. The board eliminated 265 positions, including media specialists and literacy coaches, while avoiding layoffs through reassignments.

Overall, the district's budget grew by about 5 percent. The amount did not include added funding for enrollment increases beyond projections.

Chief finance officer Olga Swinson said the district will not count on that increase until the official student count comes in October and the state reallocates funds. If more money is delivered, she said, "We would take it to the board as a budget amendment."

Superintendent Kurt Browning reminded the board that the budget will be reviewed and changed as needed throughout the year.

When students return to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High for the first time next Tuesday, they will be greeted by additional counselors and law enforcement."There will be a plethora of counselors and services at the school," Broward Schools Superintende...

Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz appears to have been in line for a sizable inheritance. He’ll never get to spend it — except perhaps on defense attorneys.The amount could be enough to compel a judge to order him to hire a private lawyer, rather ...

DADE CITY — A Pasco High School student was taken into custody Tuesday amid accusations of threatening violence against the school. The campus was not at risk, school district officials said. But they made clear they take each threat seriously, and t...

LARGO — An Illinois teacher used confrontation. A campus safety monitor in Seattle attacked with pepper spray and physical force. An assistant football coach in Indiana shouted as he chased him into the woods.All were civilians who took down an activ...

LARGO — Pinellas County School Board members are not happy about the prospect of having to hand over academic control at three struggling schools to a private company, and paying the firm up to $2 million on top of it. But that’s the course they must...

The parents of Andrew Coffey, the Florida State University student who died from alcohol poisoning after an apparent hazing episode last year, have sued the national Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity and nine of its members for their son’s death.Coffey, who wa...

Schools nationwide are on heightened alert in the wake of last week’s fatal shootings in Broward County, and in the Tampa area, that means official warnings about social media posts and more calls for police action.Two Tampa boys, one 15 and one 16, ...

TAMPA — During a news conference Tuesday morning, Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins and Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan warned against misleading investigators with reports about school security."Spread the word," the school said in a t...

TAMARAC — The shooting was all over, but the emotional reckoning had just begun, and so on Saturday the teachers of Broward County in Florida packed their union hall to discuss what it meant to have become the nation’s human shields."Last night I tol...

The massive education measure known as House Bill 7055 has received plenty of attention during the legislative session, with its emphasis on decertifying teachers’ unions and using state-backed scholarship programs to steer kids away from public scho...

This section focuses on Florida education news. We cover Pinellas County schools, Hillsborough County schools, Pasco County schools, Hernando County schools and Florida schools statewide. It's all here on our education page: newspaper articles on education, education blog articles, as well as in-depth coverage of state testing and other issues affecting schools, both in Tampa Bay and across Florida.